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Patriots Always Keep a Tight Grip on the Ball

Since 2010, New England Has the Lowest Fumble Rate in the NFL

With the Deflategate scandal rocking the sports world, WSJ reporter Geoff Foster performs a quasi-scientific experiment to see who is to blame.

By

Michael Salfino

Updated Jan. 24, 2015 9:13 a.m. ET

One of the many questions surrounding “Deflategate”—the controversy that has engulfed the New England Patriots—concerns what advantage an NFL team would gain from using a deflated football. Numerous players have said a softer ball is easier to grip, and a ball that’s easier to grip is harder to drop

New England coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady both denied ever purposely using footballs that were inflated below the NFL...